– Church reportedly accused cleric of diverting funds for
personal use
– Wife and child of late pastor arrested
– Neighbours say he was a loving and nice man to his
family
A cleric has reportedly committed suicide after being
alleged to have used the church’s money for personal use.
The Punch reports that the 49-year-old simply identified
only as Bassey slashed his throat after he was wrongly
accused by his church members.
The incident which happened last Monday at about
5.00am on Abari Street in Mulero, Dopemu area of Lagos
was reported to the police at the Dopemu divison, and
after depositing his remains in a morgue, his wife, and son
were arrested in connection with the incident.
The pastor, before committing the act, was said to have
written a short note where he stated that his family was
not complicit in his death as preliminary investigation
revealed that he was apparently frustrated after being
accused diverting the undisclosed sum.
The source said: “The knife used by the pastor to kill
himself has been recovered. He also wrote that he killed
himself. We learnt that he was accused by his church of
diverting money. He was probably frustrated because his
neighbours described him as a God-fearing and honest
person. We are still trying to find out the actual amount
involved.”
Speaking also on the issue was Seun Oladimeji, who is
one of the late pastor’s neighbours. She said the pastor
had been awake in the night, walking around the passage
and that a note, which read, “I, myself, not my wife” was
found in the house after his demise.
She said: “I don’t know whether he (pastor) did it because
of the money issue, but he and his wife were very friendly.
He woke up around 3am that day. I learnt his wife and
son, Emmanuel, later begged him to go back to bed. At
about 5am, the woman screamed for help. We all gathered
in their room and saw blood gushing out of the pastor’s
neck.
“Unknown to the woman, he hid a knife which he used to
slash his throat. Before he died, he wrote on a piece of
paper ‘I, myself, not my wife’. I can say it anywhere that it
was not his wife who killed him. The son was just crying;
he was not himself. Both of them were arrested.”
An anonymous resident of the area informed that the
pastor had a good relationship with his wife and that there
was no way the family members would have had a hand in
his death.
“Pastor helped his wife with her hair before the incident.
They really loved each other. Most times, while the wife
washed clothes, he would be spreading it on the line, ” he
stated, as yet another neighbour confirmed that the pastor
moved into the area two years ago and would never have
been killed by the wife.
The resident, Olatunde Olasunbo, said: “I did not know his
church, but he was God-fearing and very nice. He was
always with his bible. Even if he diverted the church funds,
suicide is not the solution. He and his wife related like
siblings. They moved to this area two years ago.”
Confirming the incident, the Lagos Police Public Relations
Officer (PPRO), SP Dolapo Badmos, informed that the case
had been transferred to the State Department of Criminal
Investigation (SCID), Yaba for further investigations.